Independent Reading

Independent reading, is one of the most important things we can do in our classrooms, in my opinion. It sets the framework for all other reading and for reading in the rest of the child's life. It is important to have a wide variety of books for children to choose from when they are reading.

Evidence #1
Good Fit Books

It is important to me to have a large variety of books in the classroom that are perfect for all readers- fiction and nonfiction, beginner and chapter books. I really like this chart and want to teach my children to do this independently so that they have freedom over the books they choose, and I just have to check in with them every once in a while.

Evidence #2
3 Ways to Read

I love this blogpost about daily five and the importance of read to self. I love that she started daily five on the first day of school and that she trained her kindergarteners, who couldn't read yet, to do read to self by teaching them that reading a book doesn't just mean reading the words, it can also mean reading the pictures or retelling the story. I love this and think it's very important for teachers of young children to remember.